Women lack confidence in their knowledge of wine despite knowing as much as men, report finds

ByHelen Gilbert

Published: 23 October, 2018

Wine Intelligence has launched its first report focused on gender and wine consumption across six key wine markets.

Released this week, the report showed women were more likely than men to have an interest in buying ethical and sustainable wine and were more likely to purchase vintages made by female winemakers when this was brought to their attention.

However, the evidence also demonstrated that women lacked confidence in their wine knowledge despite knowing as much about wine as their male peers.

This was particularly true in the on-premise environment, where a significantly higher proportion of men claimed they were “always or mostly the person ordering the wine when eating at a restaurant”, the report - released in collaboration with Women of the Vine & Spirits, stated.

“Plenty has been written about the supposed differences between men and women in terms of how they think, act and interact with one another, and with it a number of fascinating and mostly anecdotal theories about gender-related wine behaviour,” said Wine Intelligence CEO Lulie Halstead.

“In this report, we have taken some of the most commonly-heard hypotheses and used our international consumer behaviour and attitudinal datasets, plus some specifically-designed research experiments, to see if there is any evidence to support or refute them.”

Deborah Brenner CEO of Women of the Vine & Spirits said: “In an era where the role of gender is very much front of mind, an independent study that is statistically reliable and valid is essential for our industry and innovation. We were particularly intrigued with the finding that women are more likely to purchase wine if they are aware the winemaker is a woman as we are soon to launch our “Women Owned & Certified Program” focusing on women behind the brands and Supplier Diversity.”

The report was based on an investigation of 11 hypotheses on gender difference in wine usage and attitude across Australia, Canada, China, Japan, the UK and the US – markets with an estimated combined 230 million wine drinkers split 50-50 between men and women.